1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual zone type air conditioner for vehicles, and more particularly, to such a dual zone type air conditioner for vehicles, which includes two air volume controlling doors mounted on an air inflow port of an air-conditioning case where the cross section of an air passageway is uniform and a flow of air is relatively uniform, a sealing wall mounted between the air volume controlling doors, and a controlling part mounted for selecting a more air volume side as air volume level of a blower when an air volume set by a driver and an air volume set by a passenger are different from each other and controlling the air volume controlling doors to supply the set air volumes to a driver's seat side and a passenger's seat side, thereby controlling right and left air volumes accurately and minutely, reducing a noise according to positions of the air volume controlling doors, symmetrically using setting values of working positions of the air volume controlling doors of the driver's seat side and the passenger's seat side and using a setting value of each air-conditioning mode as it is without changing the setting value by each air-conditioning mode since the air volume controlling doors are mounted at places each having a uniform cross section of the air passageway, reducing a development period of the air conditioner, simplifying a working logic of the air volume conditioning doors, and preventing errors.
2. Background Art
In general, an air conditioner for vehicles is a car interior component, which is installed in the vehicle heat for the purpose of cooling the inside of the vehicle in the summer season or the winter season or removing frost from a windshield in rainy season or winter season to thereby secure a driver's front and rear visual field. Since such an air conditioner typically includes a heating device and a cooling device together, so that it heats, cools or ventilates the inside of the vehicle through the steps of selectively introducing the inside air or the outside air to the air conditioner through a blower unit, heating or cooling the introduced air, and blowing the heated or cooled air into the vehicle.
Such an air conditioner is classified into a three-piece type where a blower unit, an evaporator unit, and a heater core unit are disposed independently, a semi-center type where the evaporator unit and the heater core unit are embedded in an air-conditioning case and the blower unit is mounted separately, and a center-mounting type where the three units are all embedded in the air-conditioning case.
Meanwhile, recently, a dual zone type air conditioner has been applied to a vehicle. The dual zone type air conditioner is a device for separately heating or cooling a driver's seat and a front passenger's seat of the vehicle by providing the driver's seat and the front passenger's seat with air of different temperature as occasion demands.
FIG. 1 is a configurative view of a dual zone type air conditioner for vehicles according to a prior art.
As shown in the drawing, the dual zone type air conditioner 1 includes: an air-conditioning case 20 having an air inflow port 27 formed on an inlet thereof, a plurality of air outflow ports 28 mounted on an outlet thereof, and air passageways 26a and 26b formed inside the air-conditioning case 20 in such a way as to communicate the air inflow port 27 and the air outflow ports 28 with each other; an evaporator 2 and a heater core 3 spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval and mounted on the air passageways 26a and 26b in order; a partition wall 30 for partitioning the downstream side air passageways 26a and 26b of the evaporator 2 into right and left air passageways 26a and 26b; and a blower 10 mounted on the air inflow port 27 of the air-conditioning case 20.
Here, the air-conditioning case 20 is divided into right and left cases relative to the partition wall 30 and the divided cases are assembled with each other.
Furthermore, temperature-adjusting doors 25 for adjusting temperature are respectively mounted on the right and left air passageways 26a and 26b between the evaporator 2 and the heater core 3, and each of the air outflow ports 28 of the right and left air passageways 26a and 26b has a plurality of mode doors 24 to thereby perform various air-conditioning modes (a vent mode, a bi-level mode, a floor mode, a mix mode, and a defrost mode) while adjusting a degree of opening of the corresponding air outflow port 28.
Moreover, the blower 10 includes: inside and outside air inlets (not shown) mounted on an upper portion thereof and opened and closed by an inside and outside air converting door (not shown) to selectively introduce inside and outside air; and a blast fan 15 mounted therein for blowing the air introduced through the inside and outside air inlets toward the air-conditioning case 20.
Additionally, an air volume controlling door 40 is mounted in front of the evaporator 2 to independently control the air volume blown from the blower 10 to the right and left air passageways 26a and 26b of the air-conditioning case 20.
In the conventional dual zone type air conditioner 1 having the above configuration, the inside or outside air introduced to the inside of the air-conditioning case by the blower 10 is cooled while passing through the evaporator 2 (when the air conditioner is turned on), separately introduced into the right and left air passageways 26a and 26b by the partition wall 30, selectively heated by the heater core 3, and provided to the driver's seat or the passenger's seat inside the vehicle through each of the air outflow ports 28 formed in the downstream of the air passageways 26a and 26b to thereby independently heat or cool the driver's seat space or the passenger's seat space inside the vehicle.
In addition, the temperature-adjusting doors 25 respectively mounted on the right and left air passageways 26a and 26b of the air-conditioning case 20 and the air volume controlling door 40 mounted in front of the evaporator 2 can independently control temperature and volume of the air discharged to the driver's seat and the passenger's seat.
However, as shown in FIG. 1, since only one air volume controlling door 40 is mounted in front of the evaporator 2 where a flow of air is relatively uneven due to a uneven cross section of the air passageways, it is difficult to control the air volume of the right and left sides accurately and to control the air volume minutely, and a noise is generated due to a narrow area of the air when the air volume controlling door 40 is located at the minimum air volume spot.
Furthermore, when the air volume controlling door 40 is mounted at a place where the cross section of each air passageway is uneven, in order to set a working position of the air volume controlling door 40, the driver's seat side (left side) is set by air volume level (for instance, from the first level to the seventh level) of the blower, and then, the passenger's seat side (right side) is set by air volume level of the blower. Moreover, the conventional dual zone type air conditioner 1 has another problem in that it takes much time to develop the air conditioner since the driver's seat side and the passenger's seat side must be set by air volume level of the blower according to the air-conditioning modes.